Neil Aronson We have come up with a list of our favorite Hollywood (and beyond) movies based in Thailand, or shot in Thailand. The history of Hollywood in Thailand goes back to the 1920s.
More recently there have been a big increase of movies shot in Thailand. The Thai government has recently introduced a rebate policy for foreign films shot in Thailand, and for using local Thai personnel. Making it ideal for Hollywood in Thailand.
A lot of movies shot in Thailand are really pretending to be another country, such as Vietnam. However Thailand’s welcoming government and beauty make it an easier and ideal place to film. This is a sample of many that have been made in the past few decades. Check them out and get inspired to travel to Thailand.
Also read a Bangkok Post article of the stereotypes of Thai Culture in western movies, which holds true to most of the movies in this list. Thailand’s depictions of the silver screen are often fraught with biased views or Thai women, culture. Bangkok Post
Movie List
- The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
- Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
- The Hangover Part 2 (2001)
- The Beach (2000)
- The Killing Fields (1984)
- Bangkok Dangerous (2008 and 1999)
- Casualties of War (1999)
- Brokedown Palace (1999)
- Only God Forgives (2013)
- Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)
- Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior (2003)
- The Medium (2021)
- Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
- Changeland
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
The Man with the Golden Gun (1974) is a classic bond action film starring Roger Moore. The Hollywood in Thailand film is set in numerous countries as Bond films are. However most of the film takes place in, and is filmed in Thailand. Thailand locations included Bangkok, Thonburi, Phuket and nearby Phang Nga Province, on the islands of Ko Khao Phing Kan and Ko Tapu.
Scaramanga’s (the bad guy) hideout is on Ko Khao Phing Kan, and Ko Tapu is often now referred to as “James Bond Island” both by locals and in tourist guidebooks. Hollywood in Thailand has made it too popular.
A scene during a boxing match used an actual Muay Thai fixture at Lumpinee Boxing Stadium.
The car chase in Bangkok was filmed near the khlong on Krung Kasem Road.
Tomorrow Never Dies (1997)
Staring Pierce Brosnon. Another Bond film that has scenes in Asia, although this in not the main location of the movie.
In a twist, if you are watching the movie, the scenes in Asia are supposed to be Ho-Chi-Minh-City Vietnam. However, the visa was later rescinded by Vietnamese Prime Minister at the time. So Bangkok and Chonburi became filming locations, even though the plot is still in Vietnam.
The skyscraper down which Bond and Wai Lin (Michelle Yeoh) descend on a banner is the Banyan Tree Bangkok, 21/100 South Sathorn Road, Sathorn. The motorbike chase roars along Tannery Row and Mahogany Wharf, Bangkok.
Hollywood in Thailand is often portrayed as Vietnam in many movies.
The Hangover Part 2 (2001)
The second installment of the classic franchise. If this doesn’t make you want to go to Thailand I don’t know what movie will. It’s classic Hollywood in Thailand, with all the stereotypes. Of course for a local Thai like my wife, there are a lot of incorrect items, like monks wearing the wrong color.
In case you haven’t seen it, the gang goes to Thailand for their friends wedding, and like in the first one, something goes horribly wrong. That’s it, nothing more to it, but the filming in Thailand I thought was entertaining.
The opening title song has a great montage of Bangkok life, that alone made me want to be there. It’s like like the first movie and Las Vegas itself, you want to go, but after a couple nights you have had enough. Having married a Thai girl myself, some of the plot of the marriage made me laugh.
The Beach (2000)
The Beach Stars a young Leonardo DiCaprio. Just like The Hangover, this is classic Hollywood in Thailand. The movie starts out in Bangkok where the main character is staying at a budget hostel on Khao San Road. This is a famous road for hostels and backpackers.
Here he meets someone who tells him about a secret island paradise. The beach scenes were filmed on Maya Beach, on the island of Ko Phi Phi Le, in the Krabi province.
There is a waterfall scene that is not even filmed near a beach, but in Khao Yai National Park in central Thailand, at the Haew Suwat Waterfall. There has been legal controversy that went all the way to the supreme court in 2006, over damage that was done to the beach area by production crew of the film. Removing trees, moving sand, trash.
Not the greatest movie off all time, but it sort of made me want visit any island in the region.
The Killing Fields (1984)
The Killing Fields is a highly praised and awarded British film is a brutal biographical drama of what happened during the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia. It is important for travelers to understand what had been going on the region at this time in the 1970s, as it shapes the culture of Cambodia.
At least 20,000 Cambodians were executed here at the Killing Fields in Phnom Penh Cambodia, during the civil war. The film follows a New York Times reporter covering the civil war. His character wants to stay and keep covering the war, even as things get more dangerous. In Thailand, filming took place in Phuket, Hua Hin, and Bangkok.
Not actually Hollywood in Thailand, but British Hollywood.
Bangkok Dangerous (2008 and 1999)
The 2008 Hollywood in Thailand version is a remake staring Nicholas Cage of the 1999 original Thai version of Bangkok Dangerous.
Cage’s character (Joe) is that of a contract killer. He travels to Bangkok for an assignment to assassinate four people for notorious Bangkok crime boss, Surat. Joe hires a local kid off the streets to help him, which brings some local Thai element to the movie. As the title suggests, it is filmed mainly around Bangkok.
Casualties of War (1999)
Casualties of War is a Vietnam War flashback style movie, filmed by Hollywood in Thailand. The film stars Michael J. Fox and Sean Penn, and is based on the events of the 1966 incident on Hill 192 during the Vietnam War. Here a Vietnamese woman was kidnapped from her village by a squad of American soldiers, who raped and murdered her. The film was shot in Kanchanabur (railroad bridge and river scenes) and Phuket in Thailand.
Brokedown Palace (1999)
Telling their parents they’re going to Hawaii, recent high school grads Alice (Claire Danes) and Darlene (Kate Beckinsale) instead travel to Thailand, thinking their money will go farther.
This is true, your money will go further. But be careful, or you will end up on an episode of Locked up Abroad! The girls are tricked by the movie hooligan, and they are caught smuggling drugs at the airport, getting 33 years in a Thai prison.
In a filming twist, most of the scenes are filmed in the Philippines, since the film presents a critical view of the Thai legal system. Filming locations also took place in Bangkok, including Wat Phra Kaew.
Only God Forgives (2013)
Starting Ryan Gosling, Kristin Scott Thomas, Vithaya Pansringarm, Ratha Phongam. This is an action thriller. The main plot is about a drug-smuggler thriving in Bangkok’s criminal underworld. However his life gets more complicated when his mother compels him to find and kill whoever is responsible for his brother’s recent death.
The movie incorporates Muay Thai, which is a business cover up for the actual business. So if you like a lot of fighting action with a wild ride through Bangkok then check it out.
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)
This is a Thai Language film, which received high ratings and won the Palme d’Or at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival.
The story is about Uncle Boonmee, who is suffering from acute kidney failure and decides to end his days with his family in the country. Strangely, the ghosts of his deceased wife and his lost son appear and take him under their wing. Meditating on the reasons for his illness, Boonmee sets out to cross the jungle with his family as far as a cave at the top of a hill… his birthplace in his first life.
Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior (2003)
Thai language, stars Tony Jaa in the lead role, alongside Petchtai Wongkamlao and Pumwaree Yodkamol. The movie is a perfect example on the magical art of Muay Thai.
Ong Bak was a instant hit and Tony Jaa was finally recognized as the next big martial arts super star. The plot is that an ancient Buddha statue is stolen from a rural village in northeastern Thailand by thieves from Bangkok.
The thieves desecrate the statue and take the head with them. Ting, a villager extremely skilled in Muay Thai, volunteers to travel to Bangkok to recover the stolen head of Ong-Bak.
Most of the filming takes place in Bangkok. If you like this movie, and this type of movie, there was a second installment that came out in 2008.
The Medium (2021)
Thai: ร่างทรง Rang Song, literally: Mediumship. This is a Thai/Korean Production. Not Hollywood in Thailand.
It has been called a mockumentary supernatural folk horror film, using Thai folklore as a theme. Starring Narilya Gulmongkolpech, Sawanee Utoomma, Sirani Yankittikan.
The plot takes place in the Isan region of Thailand, where a shaman realizes that his nephew has been possessed. However, the goddess that appears to have taken possession turns out not be as benevolent as she first appears. The movie is filmed in this region in the Loei province.
Good Morning, Vietnam (1987)
Good Morning, Vietnam is an American War comedy, taking place in the Vietnam War. The story takes place in Saigon in 1965, but as with other movies on this list, it was filmed in Thailand.
Too bad the Vietnamize government didn’t want to showcase the beauty of their own country, and Thailand has reaped the benefits, especially Phuket. Although many would argue it has ruined Phuket.
The film stars Robin Williams as a radio DJ on Armed Forces Radio Service, who proves hugely popular with the troops, but infuriates his superiors with what they call his “irreverent tendency”. The story is loosely based on the experiences of AFRS radio DJ Adrian Cronauer. The film was shot around Bangkok and Phuket Province.
Changeland
Unlike most movies that film in Thailand, but are taking place somewhere else, this one actually take place here, and is part of the theme. The locations are in and around Phuket, with The Slate Phuket Resort used, as are many tourist spots.
Changeland is a buddy comedy-drama about Brandon (Green), who bought an exotic second honeymoon package long in advance to surprise his wife and save his failing marriage. On the eve of their anniversary, he discovers his wife’s longtime affair and he instead runs away with his best friend Dan (Meyer) to avoid conflict.
As the friends share breathtaking, once-in-a-lifetime experiences meant for a happy couple, their friendship is exposed as potentially strained as Brandon’s marriage. With help from Dan and a series of eccentric characters they encounter, Brandon’s life is forever changed.
